Re: Steam and snowy mountains on Iron Ore RR
| July 02, 2019 04:50PM |
JohnM's comment about my photo of an 0-6-2 cog engine on the Erzbergbahn (Iron Mountain Railroad) in Austria, got me to thinking about posting some more photos even though this line is standard gauge. I got to rationalizing that the Iron Mountain Railroad had virtually all of the attributes of a narrow gauge railroad, including spectacular mountains, steep grades, ancient steam engines, heavy trains with rear end helpers, passenger cars with open end platforms, and massive snow in the winter. So this line resembles a narrow gauge in all but gauge.
My wife and I took a train from Garsten, where we had chased the narrow gauge Steyrtalbahn, shown below but covered in more detail earlier this spring (April), to Hieflau, the northern end of the Iron Mountain Railroad to Leoben.
The train ride from Garsten to Hieflau took only an hour or so behind electric power
In Hieflau we transferred to the Erzbergbahn where we rode in open platform cars popularly known as "Donnerbuechsen" or " Thunder Cans" that were some of my favorite conveyances in Germany also. Power was an 0-6-2 cog engine. For the first 9 miles or so to Eisenerz the engine ran with adhesion power only.
In Eisenerz the engine engaged the cog rail for the stiff 7.1 percent grade to the summit at Praebichl, gaining 2,300 ft in elevation. We got off the train in Praebichl and spent a couple of days hiking to various view spots on both sides of the pass to observe the heavy freight action. Naturally, the line was not built to carry passengers, but to haul iron ore from the mine at Erzberg over Praebichl Pass to the steel mill at Leoben Donawitz. Power for the ore trains were ancient 0-6-2 cog engines, the latest built in 1909, and three 0-12-0 cog engines delivered in 1913. We were too late to see the two massive 2-12-2T cog engines that had been built in 1941, the last of which had been retired in 1968. The 2-12-2s had a tonnage rating of 330 tons on the 7.1 percent grade, while the 0-12-0s were limited to 187 tons, the 0-6-2s even less.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2019 05:53PM by Olaf Rasmussen.
My wife and I took a train from Garsten, where we had chased the narrow gauge Steyrtalbahn, shown below but covered in more detail earlier this spring (April), to Hieflau, the northern end of the Iron Mountain Railroad to Leoben.
The train ride from Garsten to Hieflau took only an hour or so behind electric power
In Hieflau we transferred to the Erzbergbahn where we rode in open platform cars popularly known as "Donnerbuechsen" or " Thunder Cans" that were some of my favorite conveyances in Germany also. Power was an 0-6-2 cog engine. For the first 9 miles or so to Eisenerz the engine ran with adhesion power only.
In Eisenerz the engine engaged the cog rail for the stiff 7.1 percent grade to the summit at Praebichl, gaining 2,300 ft in elevation. We got off the train in Praebichl and spent a couple of days hiking to various view spots on both sides of the pass to observe the heavy freight action. Naturally, the line was not built to carry passengers, but to haul iron ore from the mine at Erzberg over Praebichl Pass to the steel mill at Leoben Donawitz. Power for the ore trains were ancient 0-6-2 cog engines, the latest built in 1909, and three 0-12-0 cog engines delivered in 1913. We were too late to see the two massive 2-12-2T cog engines that had been built in 1941, the last of which had been retired in 1968. The 2-12-2s had a tonnage rating of 330 tons on the 7.1 percent grade, while the 0-12-0s were limited to 187 tons, the 0-6-2s even less.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2019 05:53PM by Olaf Rasmussen.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.